Tuesday March 27, 2007
Carnival air as challenge begins
THE fourth AND1 Streetball Challenge kicked off without a hitch when the first leg was held at The Summit USJ on Sunday, and youths can expect to express themselves and enjoy several exciting programmes lined up for each leg.
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Champion shows his style: Top freestylist Choong Wai Kit holding two basketballs as he demonstrates his stuff at the ‘In Search of Freestylists’ competition.
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A full house of 350 teams competed in six categories – girls’ Under-15, girls’ Under-18, boys’ Under-13, boys’ Under-15, boys’ Under-18 and boys’ Under-21 – in the opening leg that was launched by Subang Jaya assemblyman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng.
Milo is conducting the Junior All Stars Challenge contest in conjunction with the event until April 25, offering 180 prizes worth RM38,000 over the eight-week period.
In addition, Milo waived the RM90 entry fee for the first leg for teams which collected 60 empty Milo streetball promotional cans to drum up interest at two coaching clinics held recently at Taman Garing in Rawang and the Taman Desa basketball courts.
Milo was also part of the In Search of Freestylists competition, which drew 25 entries, while Nokia ran the In Search of MC competition which attracted eight students.
Ossia World of Golf executive director Saw Swee Leong said the event was getting bigger with registration continuing until 9am this time around, compared to much earlier in the previous years.
“When we first started four years ago, only a few parents turned up for the event.
“Now, I see participants having their brothers, sisters, parents and even girlfriends coming to the event. In fact, we found that participation in the sponsors’ booths has also increased, giving the event more of a carnival atmosphere,” he said.
Saw added that was not easy to achieve 100% participation each year but they still managed it.
“This is because we want to be innovative, different and have the drive to push this event to a higher level each year by adding new ‘flavours’ – such as the In Search of MC contest – to keep the youngsters coming back,” he added.
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Balancing act: A freestylist balancing a basketball on the back of his head during the ‘In Search of Freestylists’ competition.
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Official beverage Milo and official mobile phone Nokia have also renewed their partnership in the challenge dedicated to youngsters for the third consecutive year. StarMetro is the official media.
Nokia Malaysia customer and market operations marketing manager Geraldine Wong said that Nokia was proud to be included in the event as it is part of promoting the hip and trendy expression among youth.
Students Sheikh Mohd Afnan, Gooi Keng Sheng and Nabil Hariz Mohd Ariff emerged tops in the freestylists competition and are the first three to qualify for the grand finals scheduled to be held in Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, in September.
RESULTS (all finals)
GIRLS
Under-15: Unbelievable bt Siao Woo Gui 7-4
Under-18: Whatever bt Nuts Nuts 8-2
BOYS
Under-13: Noobs For Life bt KHS 3-2
Under-15: Anti-Freedom bt Betroit 3-1
Under-18: Prosport bt C.B.E 6-5
Under-21: Oxygen bt Supermen 7-3.
